TOWER HILL, Orange Walk District, Mon. Aug. 24, 2020– A policeman stationed in Orange Walk has been charged with extortion, and detained pending arraignment.

An American visitor who was driving from Belize City to Orange Walk Town on the Philip Goldson Highway, and who was not wearing a mask on his face, was stopped by a policeman at a vehicle checkpoint near the Toll Bridge in Tower Hill.

The policeman told the American that his failure to wear a mask was an offense which carries a fine of $5,000 — which was misleading, because the law does not require a person to wear a mask while driving in a vehicle.

We’ve been informed by reliable sources that the American offered the policeman $50, but the policeman demanded $300, which the American paid, and he then drove away without being charged.

The American, however, went to the Orange Walk Police Station and made a report, and the police officer was apprehended.

Commissioner of Police Chester Williams said that the policeman will be charged both criminally and internally by a police tribunal. He also noted that the Police Department has been getting reports that police officers are extorting members of the public.

Commissioner Williams said that a meeting will be held with the Attorney General, Michael Peyrefitte, so that a Statutory Instrument (SI) can be passed that would make it an offense for police to use the SI to extort members of the public, and that stiff penalties should be levied if they are found doing so.

Commissioner Williams also reminds officers that he has a policy of zero tolerance for wrongdoing by them, and said that they would be rooted out of the department.